At the End of All Your Lines
by eirajenssen
Summary: A few weeks after the season finale, Elena has gone looking for Stefan on her own. But will the Stefan she finds be the same that left? One thing's for sure: there'll be hearts breaking, hard choices and oh yes, there'll be blood. Delena, Stelena. R&R.
1. My Missing Puzzle Piece

**Hello boys and girls. So, this is my version of what happens after the season finale. You don't necessarily have to have watched it, but I assume you have since mainly total VD-lovers hang out at this particular part of . Anyways, my fiction starts about a month after the finale and Stefan is, as you've probably expected, away with Klaus some place.**

** As the ones of you that's followed my earlier fictions may have noticed, I have big trouble finishing my stories, but I'm pretty sure I'll keep writing on this 'til season 3 finally starts. Telling me what you think will certainly not slow down the process, if you know what I mean. ;) And please don't hesitate to tell me what your ideas and stuff!**

** And of course, the disclaiming: I do not own everything related to the show (or the books for that matter) but my own ideas and thoughts. I have and will never wish to take any credit for the great job that the writers and all have been doing. But if you do sue me, I will probably stop watching...**

** So...! Enough talking. Enjoy the story.**

She went to sit in the big, red armchair. She got up again. She paced back and forth across the floor. She sat down on the large and comfortable-looking bed. She noticed the big, red satins on the carpet and was up again. She paced around the room panicky until she realized she had to calm down and once again went to sit in the chair, knees pulled up to her chest and embraced by her arms, while taking deep breaths. She forced herself to stay there, just rocking slightly back and forth. Then, still completely unprepared, she heard his voice.

"Hello Elena."

He was standing there, right across the room in front of her and she flew out of the chair, overwhelmed to see he him, see that he was still him – what had she expected? Tentacles? She kept flying, across the room towards him and his beautiful arms and their safe embrace. But when she noticed, after just a few steps, that he hadn't made a single move towards her or towards embracing her back, she stopped dead. She just stared at him, bewildered. It was first now she took time to actually _look _at him. And he wasn't the same. His face were dark, hostile. Defensive. It was something very wrong with his eyes. They were not the one's of her Stefan. They were hard and cold and under them were few veins just now expanding and becoming very visible to the human eye. He was thirsty. His body was rigid, tensed.

She also just now took time to take in the tone of his voice as he'd greeted her. It hadn't been as it should've. It hadn't been happy or relieved or anything like that. It had been... Hard. As the rest of him.

"You're not happy to see me." It wasn't at all what she had planned to say, but the words escaped her lips before she could stop them.

She searched in his eyes for anything, a change as her sad words hit him, but nothing. He didn't ever respond to her statement, just said:

"Did Bonnie help you find me?" He sounded as if he was rather bored, as if he was just airily interested and didn't really care about her answer.

"No."

"Damon?"

She shook her head. "No."

"So nobody knows you're here?"

She shook her head again.

The shadow of a smile played on his lips. It wasn't a real smile though. It was a horrible smile, a mean smile. It wasn't happy. And it wasn't Stefan's.

"Oh, you really are stupid."

"I'm not afraid of you", she said calmly. She wasn't. She knew this wasn't him and she knew he was in there somewhere.

"You should be. Especially since I was just going out to grab some dinner."

She stared at him while the real meaning of his words sunk in.

"No", she whispered, unwilling to accept that he had turned on everything he'd believed in.

"Yes, Elena. Stop thinking the better of me. It's tiresome. This is who I am. This is my nature. So please stop mistaking me for the weak Stefan you use to know. You don't know me anymore. I don't _care, _Elena."

"That's Klaus words", she said stubbornly. She wanted so badly to be strong and certain when saying what she was about to, but there was nothing she could do to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. "I know who you are, Stefan, who you _really _are. I know you care. You're always the Stefan I love, you just get separated from him sometimes. And I really need you back right now. Because everybody's disappearing." The tears now escaped her eyes and started running down her cheeks, a lot of them. She tried to ignore them tough they truly had a big impact on her words, that were now starting to flow out, becoming impossible to hold back. "My parents, John, Jenna... I miss her so much, Stefan. And it's all my fault. And I don't know how to get through it without you holding my hand. But you're gone too. And I can't handle that. Not you." She looked at him through the fog of her tears, trying not to sob, and failing. "And I thought that if I could just find you and you could just see me, you'd remember. And we could finally start planning how to take Klaus down."

She closed the distance between them with a few, quick steps. She was right in front of him now, so close. She raised her hand to touch his cheek.

"I love you, Stefan", she whispered. "I always will. And I'll never be afraid of you. Ever."

She gasped as her back suddenly slammed into the wall that recently had been about fifteen feet behind her and Stefan was still in front of her, pinning her to it.

"Let me make this very clear for you", he hissed. "If either one of you will want to try taking Klaus down, you'll have to take me first. I'm not coming back, Elena, and your family issues is honestly not my problem. I would recommend you leaving instantly since I still haven't eaten and have gotten really hungry by now. ...And since you really do smell nice." He released her, making her free to go.

She stared up at him, refusing to show any sign of fear. Her cheeks were wet but she wasn't crying anymore.

"Why?" she said fiercely.

He sighed, tired, as if she was a stupid kid who didn't make any sense at all.

"Why what?"

"Why do you recommend me to leave? Why don't you just kill me right here on the spot? Nobody knows I'm here. If you really don't care... do it. I'm tired anyway. I really am." Did she just imagine the small change in his eyes at the end of her challenge? It was gone so fast she doubted it had ever been there.

He just sighed again. "Believe me, Elena, I would. But if I do Bonnie will find out it was me and I'm really not in the mood for having a powerful witch, a vampire hunter and a Damon after me right now. I doubt it's worth it."

"Oh, I think it is", she said, letting out a deep breath and showering his face with her warm scent. "And who cares, really? You're with Klaus. You could easily kill them off."

He leaned really close then, a completely terrifying expression on his face. "I swear to god, Elena", he growled, "if you don't leave here right this second, I _will _kill you."

She just stared at him with disbelief. "What are you doing, Stefan? Why won't you let me in? If you really want to kill me, just do it. Prove to me that you truly don't care anymore. Do it, Stefan. Kill me."

"Yeah, Stefan", a voice said from the doorway. It was the voice, the european accented voice that Elena hated above all other voices.

"Just do it", Klaus said and Elena could almost see as her plan fell to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.


	2. Be Mine

**Hi guys. First of all, I just wanna make one little correction: In the beginning of the previous chapter where Elena looks down on the carpet and notices some red _satins, _she's supposed to notice red _stains. _Sounded a bit weird. And in the introduction, "" apparently has been automatically cut out, didn't know you weren't allowed to write that in stories... **

**Anyways, this is a pretty short chapter, but it felt good to end it there.**

**Enjoy.**

Stefan'd spun around so fast Elena's eyes hadn't been able to catch the movement, when hearing the voice of the vampire who'd use to be his biggest enemy but now was... what? His ally? No, not really. Elena couldn't think that.

She herself, had just gone completely rigid and was pretty sure all the color had just drained from her face. Now she was scared. Because as she saw it, there were now only two ways for the next few moments play out. One: Stefan was still himself somewhere, but for some reason he wouldn't let her see it. If this was the case, he'd die before letting Klaus or anyone else lay a hand (or tooth) on her. And she just couldn't see how they could beat Klaus at this point. Two: Stefan had turned his emotions off. He would kill her now, without blinking. They were almost equally horrible. But she knew what she'd always choose, of course she did. She'd rather have Stefan kill her in even pure hatred than see him die before her eyes, all because of her.

"Klaus", Stefan now said and Elena obviously couldn't see his face since he was turned away from her, but his tone was welcoming.

"Hello Stefan. I see we've got company." Klaus wore his usual, charming smile that probably wouldn't have looked so much like a smirk if Elena hadn't known he wasn't such a nice guy.

He crossed the floor towards her now, and wasn't Stefan's body suddenly shielding her a bit more? She hadn't noticed him moving.

Klaus eyes were on Stefan's face for but the fraction of a second and Elena thought she could feel a quick breeze of sternness being shot from Klaus' eyes in that very moment, but the smirk was all the time maintained intact over his undeniably good-looking features and his eyes were so quickly back to politely overlooking her face, that she had absolutely no idea what emotion Klaus had had in the gaze shot to Stefan, all she knew was that he'd shot one. But maybe that was enough. Maybe that was all the confirmation she needed to be rather sure that Stefan had moved at least one inch to shield her better. Who knew?

Klaus reached Elena and Stefan was still standing as hard and still as a rock when Klaus bowed slightly to her, saying:

"The sweet Elena... To what do we owe the pleasure?"

He took her right hand to greet her by kissing the back of it and she cringed at his touch.

"Don't touch me", she hissed and instantly tried to snatch the hand back. Klaus gentle hold of it was firm, though, and he carelessly finished the movement, lifting her hand while bending a little to kiss it lightly, both he and Stefan completely ignoring her objection. The real Stefan would've done something, he would've defended her... Right?

"Well, my apologies", Klaus said then, backing a few steps, pretending to suddenly remember that he was being inexcusably impolite somehow, but just looking extremely entertained.

"I believe I was interrupting something... Please, do continue."

A few moments passed. Elena wondered what feelings Stefan's face held, wished he'd turn back to her. So she could just know.

"Let me help you", Klaus said in a very polite-sounding but in the same time genuinely cruel way. "This charming young lady was just offering herself to you. What is your answer?"

The moment that passed seemed to go on for eternity. Stefan stood completely motionless and quiet while Klaus maintained his smirk.

"I, of course, would not decline, if you're not interested. But then, why wouldn't you be? You don't care, do you? So what do you say, Stefan?"

Stefan turned then, in a flash. His eyes flickered to the vervain necklace around her neck. The one he'd once given her, in a wholly different time.

"Oh, but Stefan... You know that's cheating", Klaus, who shouldn't even have been able to see where Stefan was looking, said then.

Stefan closed his eyes for a second or two. Then he looked Elena right in the eyeballs and she almost fell over because of the intensity in his eyes. It was him. It was Stefan, _her _Stefan! He was back!

"Stefan!" she whispered breathlessly, unable to stop herself from falling into his arms. He returned the embrace and though she all the while had no idea what was going to go down next and was scared shitless of what would happen to Stefan now that he'd shown both her and Klaus that his feelings and humanity was still there, she was just so happy to be in Stefan's arms again that she forgot about all that for a short moment. Then she felt it. The short but sharp pain of teeth penetrating the soft skin on the right side of her neck.


End file.
